When trying to indoctrinate people into the wild and wonderful world of One Piece, I have a few quick sales pitches ready to entice them. They’re just one-sentence descriptions about the world which make the average person go, “Wait, what?” The simplest one is: “The telephones are living snails.” But given that one of my top three characters is Tony Tony Chopper, I also like: “The ship doctor is a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit.” There’s a lot to chew on there, isn’t there? Sometimes I also add that this reindeer struggles with trauma related to intimacy, especially when you first meet him—just for added depth.
The inner workings of that Human-Human Fruit, however, can be difficult to remember. The Human-Human Fruit (Hito-Hito no Mi, in Japanese) is a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, which means that it gives the user the ability to transform into a species of animal. We’ve met many humans who have eaten Zoan-type Devil Fruits and gained the ability to transform into a dragon, or a leopard, or a giraffe, or a mammoth, or even a freaking tyrannosaurus rex. And that’s just off the top of my head. In Chopper’s case, we have a reindeer who ate the Human-Human Fruit and gained the power to transform into a human.
Who is Chopper in One Piece and what is a Zoan? All Zoan types are able to undergo three basic transformations: their normal form, their beast form, and a hybrid “man-beast” form. Like all Devil Fruits, Zoan fruits also have an “awakened” form, which Chopper hasn’t unlocked yet. Because Chopper is a doctor and very smart and very special, he developed a kind of medicine called a “Rumble Ball” which unlocks five more transformations unique to Chopper: Guard Point, Arm Point, Jump Point, Horn Point, and—if too many Rumble Balls are ingested in a short amount of time—the out-of-control Monster Point.
The effects of a Rumble Ball only last three minutes, which significantly affect Chopper’s ability to engage in long fights. During the time skip, Chopper trained himself to be able to transform between all forms except Monster Point without the use of a Rumble Ball. This training also resulted in a new form, and in Chopper’s transformations changing shape.
So with all of that in mind, let’s walk through the 10 transformations my lovely best boy has unlocked throughout his journey. The One Piece Wiki was of great help in jogging my brain, so shout out to them. Here are all of Chopper’s transformations in One Piece, explained.
Reindeer Form (a.k.a. Walk Point)
This form is a normal ol’ reindeer. It’s what Chopper would look like if he hadn’t eaten the Human-Human Fruit. Wild, huh? The big difference between this form pre- and post-time skip is that Chopper got bigger, ostensibly as an organic result of him getting older. (Chopper is 15 years old before the time skip, and 17 afterwards. He’s a growing boy.)
As the name suggests, Chopper slips into Walk Point when there is—yup—a lot of walking to do. You could theoretically use him as a pack animal and try to get him to carry your luggage, but that feels mean.
Human Form (a.k.a. Heavy Point)
Heavy Point, as it’s largely known, is Chopper’s “beast form.” But since he ate the Human-Human Fruit, it’s the one in which Chopper looks most like a human—most being the key word here. When humans eat animal-transformation Zoan fruits, it’s not a one-to-one perfect transformation, either.
Chopper is super beefy in this form, which is why it is called “Heavy Point.” Unsurprisingly, it’s useful for strength-based melee attacks. Chopper has also used it to try to blend in with human society, but that typically doesn’t go well. As far as his origin story goes, Chopper was even shot at and injured in this form by humans who mistook him for a monster.
Hybrid Form (a.k.a. Brain Point)
The adorable, chibi, “normal” Chopper we all know and love is actually one of his forms. Brain Point is one of the three “base” forms packed in the Human-Human Fruit, as it’s a hybrid between Chopper’s reindeer and human forms. That technically makes this his “man-beast” form. When you think of someone like Kaido using his “man-beast form,” which strikes even more terror into people than his straight-up dragon form, this chibi Chopper might seem laughable in comparison. But don’t you dare laugh at my golden child.
Most of Chopper’s transformations accentuate one of his body parts, and this one accentuates his brain, literally making Chopper smarter. That’s why he’s got that big, adorable head. And considering he’s a doctor, it makes sense that would be his “default” form, right? Pre-time skip, Chopper would also pop into this form mid-battle to perform a Rumble Ball-enhanced technique called Scope, wherein he could find an enemy’s weak point.
Horn Point
Before the time skip, Chopper referred to Horn Point as his strongest form—at least, his strongest form that wasn’t Monster Point. His horns became big and spiky, making for some very painful-looking ramming and tossing attacks.
Post-time skip, the honor of strongest non-Monster transformation probably goes to Kung Fu Point, but Horn Point is still incredibly handy. The horns now look more like those of a stag beetle, which make Chopper incredibly adept at digging. They can still be used to attack (especially via tossing), but the ridiculous digging and tunneling abilities are what make Horn Point so special.
Guard Point
Guard Point is absolutely one of Chopper’s cutest transformations, and we all know that’s what’s most important here. You’ll even see the occasional Guard Point plushie (gimme) for sale. But Guard Point has a function beyond being adorable: a highly effective defensive transformation, in which most projectiles bounce off Chopper’s fortified and very cuddly fur. This fur-shield even works against most melee attacks. Post-time skip, Chopper’s Guard Point has dramatically increased in size possibilities, to the extent where it can even cover the entire deck of the Sunny. It’s definitely not for attacking, though.
Arm Point
Arm Point is for muscle strengthening. Chopper beefs up his guns in his human form so that he can punch his enemies real good. Notice that this transformation has hooves, not human hands. Chopper even says his hooves could “smash a rock” in this form, so that is one painful punch.
Arm Point hasn’t been used canonically, in either the anime or the manga, since the time skip. This has lead many fans to wonder if he can still use it. However, Chopper does say in the Fishman Island arc that he improved his “seven transformations” over the two-year time skip, so who knows. Surprisingly, it does prominently appear in the newest video game, One Piece Odyssey. Chopper also uses it in the non-canonical TV special Heart of Gold.
Jump Point
Like Arm Point, Jump Point hasn’t been around since the time skip. Unlike Arm Point, Jump Point hasn’t appeared at all, even in non-canonical material. It was pretty rare pre-time skip, too. Jump Point is (was?) mainly an evasive maneuver, allowing Chopper to avoid attacks by jumping very high up into the sky. He’s quite nimble in this form, but like Guard Point, it doesn’t seem to have attack potential.
Kung Fu Point
Since Arm Point and Jump Point have been canonically MIA since the time skip, most fans think that Chopper combined the two into a new post-time skip transformation: Kung Fu Point. Since the time skip, Kung Fu Point has become Chopper’s most common battle transformation. As the name suggests, he’s optimized his jumping ability and arm strength in order to easily execute kung fu-style punches and kicks. This includes little “hyaa!”s as well, which is good and necessary.
Monster Point
Monster Point is Chopper’s most powerful transformation by far, but it comes with serious risks. It’s essentially a giant, fuzzy kaiju, several stories tall, with all the strength and destructive capabilities you would expect of someone who could wrestle with Godzilla. Before the time skip, Chopper was unable to control himself in this form and became a destructive monster who might destroy friend and foe alike. It was a “last resort” measure, after which Chopper would become physically exhausted and unable to move. Considering Chopper’s trauma (remember the people who shot at him?), transforming into a literal, uncontrollable “monster” was emotionally hard on him as well.
During the time skip, Chopper learned to control Monster Point and is now able to maintain his consciousness in the form. Obviously, this makes using it way less risky. But Chopper still gets exhausted afterward. It’s now also the only form he needs a Rumble Ball to access.
Until Onigashima, Chopper’s Monster Point only lasted three minutes, as per Rumble Ball regulations.
Baby Geezer
Baby Geezer is Chopper’s newest form, unveiled in the middle of the Raid on Onigashima. Baby Geezer is a side effect of the new Rumble Ball Chopper co-engineered with Caesar Clown, which allows him to stay in Monster Point for 10 minutes instead of three. As a toll of sorts for being able to remain in that super-strong form for longer, Chopper shrinks into a size much smaller than even Brain Point. He can basically fit into the palm of someone’s hand. And he has cute rosy cheeks. That’s the baby part. The geezer part is that he now talks like a grandpa. This all lasts for about 15 minutes.
In short, Baby Geezer is Chopper’s best form.
(featured image: Toei Animation)
